Plate-press.



PATENTED MAY 22, 1906.

G. ROWDEN.

. PLATE PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED 1120.27.1905.

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PLATE PRESS.

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Gen/ye Fan d9 No. 821,380. PATENTED MAY 22, 1906.

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I a i .No. 821,380. PATENTED MAY 22, 1906.

G. ROWDENb PLATE PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 27, 1905.

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3mm 1 Gaoryc Howe/en ll I TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22, 1906.

Application filed December 27, 1905- Serial No. 293,523.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE RoWDEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain-new and useful Improvements in Plate-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to plate-presses and it consists in the construction, combinations, and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide means for automatically locking the platecarrying platen against return movement upon release of the plate from engagement with the pressure-roller, thus obviating danger of blurring or injury to the work.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved power-driven press in which the power can be conveniently thrown on by the operator and automatically released at a certain predetermined position of the pressure-roller.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

forming a part of this application and in which similar reference-symbols indicate correspondmg parts in the several vlews, Figure 1 1s a front elevat1on lllustrat ng a common type of plate-press with one em- .bodiment of my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation upon the left-hand side of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view, on a larger scale, on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6

. is a sectional view on the line 6 6 of Fig. 3,

showing the normal position of the shiftable means for releasing the detachable power connection. Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig.

. 6, showing the position of the shiltable means immediately after the power connection has been thrown in locked position and the actuating-roller of the shiftable means has passed from engagement therewith; and Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7, showing the position of the parts after the removable wedge has automatically returned to position.

In the accompanying drawings I have .shown my invention applied to a common type of plate-press provided with the usual plate-carrying platen 1 and pressure D-roller 2. The pressure-roller 2 is rotated by a sprocket-wheel 3, secured to its arbor 4, said sprocket being driven by a chain 5, engaging a sprocket-wheel 6, secured to a countershaft. 7, journaled in the press-frame. Any suitable tensioning device, such as the weighted-arm 48, carrying a sprocket 49, can be employed for permitting accommodation of the sprocket-chain 5 for the usual adjustment of the pressure-roller bearings. Aloose pulley 8 for receiving a drive-belt is rotatably mounted on the counter-shaft 7 and carries one member 9 of a detachable clutch, the

other member 10 of the clutch being splined on the shaft 7 for longitudinal movement. A lever 11 for throwing the clutch into and out of engagement is pivoted at 12 to the press-frame and provided at its lower end with a yoke 13, carrying rollers 14 in engagement with an annular groove 15 in the clutch member 10, the upper end of said lever being arranged in engagement with the slide 16 of a device for shifting the lever. A movable wedge 17 is shown carried by a hub 18, which. latter is mounted for rotation and axial sliding on astud 19, secured to the press-frame. The hub 18 carries a crank 20, to which is secured a cord 21, carrying a weight 22 tor normally maintaining the wedge in operative position in engagement with the end of the slide 16, as shown especially in Figs. 6 and 8. A chain 23 connected to the crank is shown extending over a guide-sprocket 241 and secured at 25 near the outer end of a foot-lever 26, pivoted to the press-frame at 27. A second chain 31 is secured at 32 to said lever adjacent to its fulcrum-point 27, and after passing over a guide-sprocket 33 is connected at 34 to the lever 11. p

A cam-lever 28 is pivoted at 29 to the pressframe in position to be engaged by a frictionroller 30, secured to the pressure-roller 2.

In the operation of the above-described construction for manually locking and automatically releasing the clutch 9 10 the parts are normally maintained in the position illustrated especially in Figs. 3, 5, and 6, with the clutch members 9 and 10 released. In this normal position of the parts the wedge 17 is maintained by its weight 22 in engagement with the slide 16 and the cam-lever 28. The friction-roller has been swung by the rotation of the pressure-roller 2 into engagement with the raised portion 35 of the cam-lever 28, thereby forcing the upper end of the lever 11 outward by means of the slide 16 and wedge 17, interposed between said lever and cam-lever 28. This outward movement of the upper end of the lever 11 releases thetion of its revolution. The'platen then tends weights employed therewith, and this necesupwardly in the direction of advance of the clutch members 9 and 10, and thereby peri mits the belt-pulley 8 to revolve loosely without driving the pressure-roller 2. When it is desired to throw the power on, the foot-lever 26 is depressed by means of its treadle 36, thereby swinging the wedge 17 from between the slide 16 and cam-lever 28 into the position shown in Fig. 7. A continued downward movement of the foot-lever 26 then acts by means of the chain 31 to draw the upper end of the lever 11 inward toward the press-frame, thus throwing the clutch members 9 and 10 into engagement. It will be clear that such preliminary withdrawal of the wedge 17 to the position shown in Fig. 7 is necessary in order to permit the initial movement of the upper end of lever '11 and the slide 16, engaging therewith, and also to permit a slight swinging of the cam-lever 28 as the friction-roller 3O rides past its raised portion 25 upon rotation of the pressure-roller 2. After the clutch 9 10 has thus been locked to transmit power to the pressure-roller 2 the foot-lever 26 is released, and the wedge 17 is thereupon swung by its weight 22 to a posi tion between the slide 16 and cam-lever 28, as shown in Fig. 8. The parts remain in the position shown in Fig. 8 until the rotation of the pressure-roller 2 rings the friction-roller 30 into engagement with the cam-lever 28, thereby shlfting the parts into the position shown in Fig. 6 and disconnecting the clutch members 9 1O.

In existing types of plate-presses difficulty is experienced in the premature return of the plate-carrying platen before the pressureroller has completed a revolution. This difficulty is especially objectionable where small plates are being printed from, since such small plates pass under and out of engagement with the roller after a small initial porto return under the action of the usual sitates the operator holding the platen in its advanced position to prevent blurring and injury to the work through rengagement of the plate with the pressure-roller. My invention provides a simple and convenient manually-controlled means for automatically locking the platen at any point in its forward travel immediately upon disengagement of the printing-plate with the pressure-roller 2.

Referring especially to Fig. 4, a stub-shaft 37, secured to the press-frame, carries a bellcrank lever 38 39, the upper arm 38 of which is normally pressed against the lower surface of the platen 1 by means of a weight 40, secured to the lower arm 39 by a cord 41, said cord passin over a loose guide-sheave 42. A cord 43, aso secured to the arm 39, passes over a loose guide-sheave 44 and is secured at 45 to a foot-lever 46. It will be noted that the arm 38 of the bell-crank lever is inclined platen 1, and hence that any return movement of the platen tends to swing said cranklever on. its shaft 37, as shown especially in Fig. 4. Such rearward swing of the arm 38 acts to clamp it with a cam action against the bottom of the platen 1, and thereby securely i in such advanced position, and the pressureroller will continue its rotation until it returns to the position shown, when the clutch will be automatically disengaged, as previously described. The operator then depresses the foot-lever 46 to swing the arm 38 of the bell-crank lever out of engagement with the platen. The platen can then be returned to its initial position without danger of injury to the work, since the channeled portion 47 0f the pressure-roller 2 has been brought in opposition to the platen.

I have illustrated and described a preferred construction which has proven entirely satisfactory in practice; but obviously many changes could be made within the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters, is-

1. In a press, the combination of a bed mounted for reciprocating movement for carrying a printing-plate, a pressure-roller arranged to advance said bed by engagement with the printing-plate carried thereby, and means for automatically locking said bed against return movement upon its release by said roller, substantially as described.

2. In a press, the combination of a bed mounted for reciprocating movement for carrying a printing-plate, a pressure-roller arranged to advance said bed by engagement with the printing-plate carried thereby, and means independent of said roller for locking said bed against return movement, substantially as described.

In a press, the combination of a bed mounted for reciprocating movement for carrying a printingplate, a pressure-roller arranged to advance said bed by engagement with the printing-plate .carried thereby, means for automatically locking said bed against return movement upon its release by said roller, and means for releasing said automatic locking means, substantially as described.

4. In a press, the combination of a bed mounted for reciprocating movement for carrying a printing-plate, a pressure-roller arranged to advance said bed by engagement with the printingplate carried thereby, means independent of said roller for locking said bed against return movement, and manually-operated means for releasing said locking means, substantially as described.

5. In a press, the combination of a bed mounted for reciprocating movement for carrying a printing-plate, a pressure-roller arranged to advance said bed by engagement with the printing-plate carried thereby, and means yieldingly engaging said bed for automatically looking it against return movement upon its release by said roller, substan tially as described.

6. In a press, the combination of a pressure-roller, power-driven means, a detachable connection between said roller and power-driven means, shiftable means for releasing said detachable connection, actuating means carried by said roller for engaging said shiftable means, movable means for releasing said shiftable means from engagement with said actuating means to permit locking adjustment of the detachable connection, means for adjusting said connection in locked position, and a common means for actuating said movable means and adjusting said connection, substantially as described.

7. In a press, the combination of a pressure-roller, power-driven means, a detachable connection between said roller and power-driven means, shiftable means for releasing said detachable connection, actuating means carried by said roller for engaging said shiftable means, movable means for releasing said shiftable means from engagement with said actuating means to permit locking adjustment of the detachable connection, means for adjusting said connection in locked position, and manually-operated means arranged to successively actuate said movable means and adjust said connection, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE ROWDEN. Witnesses:

GEORGE TAYLOR, JOHN C. YOUNG. 

